Death Stranding (2023) Review

“Death Stranding” Theatrical Poster

Director: Danny Pang
Cast: Wallace Chung, Francis Ng, Myolie Wu, Qiming Fei, Samuel Ku, Keru Wang
Running Time: 95 min.

By Paul Bramhall 

Cinema is a funny thing. There are those movies that catch you off guard in ways that can be life affirming, give you an unexpected adrenaline rush, or even tear up. Then there are those movies that catch you off guard in ways which you leave you wondering what exactly it is you just watched, how did it get made, and why did you continue watching until the end? Death Stranding falls into the category of the latter, offering up a surreal dose of mainstream Chinese cinema masquerading in the clothes of an action thriller, and is the latest movie from Danny Pang, the lesser talented half of the Pang Brothers filmmaking duo.

Together with his brother Oxide Pang the pair burst onto the scene in 2000 with Bangkok Dangerous, and they continued a hot streak that lasted through most of the decade, following it up in 2002 with the now classic horror The Eye. By the time it was the 2010’s they had a couple of Hollywood productions under their belt (2007’s The Messengers and their own Nicolas Cage starring remake of Bangkok Dangerous in 2008), 2 sequels to The Eye, and a handful of other titles that saw them rarely out of work. The last time for the brothers to work together was on the 2013 firefighting flick Out of Inferno, after which both went their separate ways and have stuck to helming disposable Mainland funded horror or action movies.

Death Stranding is easily the biggest production Danny Pang has worked on since the last time he collaborated with his brother, pairing him with a cast sprinkled with familiar faces from Hong Kong cinemas better days, and even smashing through the web movie ceiling to get a physical media release on Blu-ray. Why is questionable, with a shockingly dull plot involving government corruption. Like any Chinese production that deals with corruption on a government level, the default requirement is to have the story play out in some made-up Southeast Asian country where everyone speaks Chinese, but makes it clear enough that it’s not China.

Here we find ourselves in Tiger City, Abi, that sometimes appears to be Thailand (we see characters speaking Thai as well as Thai language on building signs), and other times appears to be Macau (a police station is marked with the Portuguese ‘Policia Judicaria’, and we see a hospitals surgery room labelled ‘Em Criugia’). The important point is, we’re not in China. Just in case there’s still any confusion though, the story is set in 2002, and to be doubly sure, we event get an onscreen disclaimer as soon as the opening credits finish advising “The person and events in this picture are fictitious”. Tiger City wants to reform its entertainment and tourism industry, and the biggest concern seems to be who’s going to become president of the Market Promotion Association, as many parties with ill intentions are circling in the background (although as one character points out, they’re not from “the local mainland, but international orientated”).

Step into the picture a cop played by Wallace Chung (Bounty Hunters, Tik Tok), who used to be close to one of the candidates, a former cop gone rogue played by Francis Ng (Full Alert, The Mission). The pair share a tragedy in that Chung’s younger sister committed suicide in a Thai drug lord’s mansion, a gathering she was attending with her boyfriend – Francis Ng. Since then things have been tense between them, especially since Ng has dealings with the corrupt head of Huasen group, played by Eddie Cheung (The Constable, Sky on Fire), who in turn has connections with the Thai drug lord whose home the death occurred in. Just to add another twist, Chung has his ex, played by Myolie Wu (Dearest Anita, Death Notice), planted undercover in Huasen group as Cheung’s wife. What can possibly go wrong?

The narrative of Death Stranding never really feels clear on what’s exactly at stake. For a large part of its 95-minute runtime it genuinely seems as if the script wants the audience to be invested in the fate of Tiger City’s entertainment and tourism industry reform. What exactly the reforms are and why they’re important is a complete mystery, as there’s zero world building in Tiger City (other than the repeated emphasis on it not being China), so there’s a strange sort of detachment to what plays out onscreen. The same applies to the characters, with the extent of Chung’s characterisation being that he has a collection of soccer balls that he cherishes, and Francis Ng left to alternately look as if he’s questioning why he’s there, or half heartedly chewing the scenery in a way that induces second-hand embarrassment.

Then in the final 20 minutes there’s a bizarre bait and switch, with the truth coming out around how Chung’s sister (and Ng’s girlfriend) really died, at which point it kind of feels like everyone just goes – ok, forget about all of this reform nonsense, let’s make it a revenge flick! With Cheung and his lackeys on the way to the airport Chung and Ng hightail it in an attempt to catch up before they leave at which point, after a couple of unremarkable action scenes, I was expecting the finale to serve up more of the same. I was wrong. Upon pulling up at the airport Ng glimpses Cheung and his crew already inside, which he reacts to by putting the pedal to the metal, and goes crashing into the departure area at full speed causing absolute chaos.

The scene is a bit like if you’ve just spent over an hour listening to nondescript elevator muzak, then suddenly somebody switches it up to play Metallica at full volume. It may make zero sense, but ultimately you’re glad it happened, and suddenly find yourself happy to stick around to the end. Not surprisingly, the vehicle centric finale is orchestrated by Norman Law, the son of car stunt legend Bruce Law. After cutting his teeth working with his father on the car stunts for the likes of 2013’s Special ID and 2016’s The Bodyguard, Law has come into his own in more recent years as an action director, and is almost the only reason why Death Stranding isn’t a total write off. The tonal shift from a sombre corporate thriller to not only an action fuelled finale, but one that’s completely bombastic in its nature is a stroke of unintended genius, one that I admittedly spent a large part of laughing through.

Watching Ng careen around the check-in area in a car is as much dumb fun as it sounds, with extra credit given to the wirework employed to emphasise the impact when someone gets hit, sending bodies twirling several feet into the air in a kind of anti-gravity state of instant death. By the time Chung arrives a few minutes later he opts to also go for the drive straight in approach, and for all the amusement the scene results in, credit has to be given to the fact that both the car stunts and the explosions are all CGI free and done for real. The sequence eventually lets the cars make their exit and segues into a frantic brawl, with Law paying a blatant homage to John Woo, one that sees Chung and Cheung sliding across a soaked floor either side of a series of glass panels, as they relentlessly shoot at each other while glass smashes everywhere.

Ultimately though the unexpectedly ludicrous finale can’t redeem the amount of terminal dullness that’s preceded it, with Pang setting himself an impossible task to make such subject matter as a countries entertainment industry reform exciting. He clearly feels differently, since he’s audacious enough to ensure his own name is included in the title design once it pops up onscreen, although once watched it’s hard to understand why anyone would take additional steps to have their name associated with Death Stranding. Personally I hope that one day the Pang Brothers will reunite, as one look at their filmography and it’s clear they complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but until they do, I advise to approach Death Stranding with extreme caution.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 3/10